Dream On!
by Ezia523
Summary: A Rockett's World fanfic with a twist.
1. Girl's Got Game!

Got caught up in the world of fanfiction yet again;) I miss this series!

My fanfic, "Dream On!" is the prequel to my last Rockett's adventure, "A Midsummer's Nightmare." The kids of Whistling Pines haven't gone on their summer trip yet;) Thanks for your views!

Weirdest day ever.

First, Rockett's late to class for an odd reason that she just can't seem to put her finger on. But that's not even the weirdest part of her day. For one thing, Rockett never thought she'd actually be "hanging out" with Sharla Norvell. Like, for _real_. Nor did she ever think she'd find Cleve Goodstaff so...so...totally ridiculously charming! And what's with Dana St. Clair suddenly hanging on to Rockett's every word like she's some kind of Rockett-wannabe all of a sudden? Rockett wants answers. But there's still one person standing in the way of all that: Ruben Rosales.

Chapter 1: Girl's Got Game!

"Check this out!" Ruben Rosales called as he landed smoothly back on the ground after performing an impressive 360 move. His skateboard skidded to a stop, and he flipped the board backwards in the air, catching it semi-expertly. Ruben turned to the red-head standing next to him. "Ready to catch some serious air, _chica_?"

"I don't know about this, guys," Rockett Movado said nervously as she glanced from Ruben to Wolf DuBois.

It was a beautiful day in the park, perfect for boarding...that is, if one knew anything about how to board - which Rockett did not.

"Don't be so worried about it Rockett," Wolf replied as he scooped up his own board and approached her. "Try it, see if you like it. Worst case scenario, you lose some balance, and Rosales and I will be right here to catch you."

"Well, _I_ will be anyway," Ruben said as he walked towards Rockett and put an arm around her. "But my girl's got this, no question."

"We'll just see about that," Wolf said with a wink as he set his board back on the ground, ready for action. Once he acquired enough speed, he bolted up into the air and jumped up on the park bench.

"Don't listen to him," Ruben whispered to Rockett. "He's just mad 'cause Arrow bailed on boarding with us today." Rockett giggled.

"I heard that, Rosales," Wolf hollered as he spun around on his skateboard. Wolf landed smoothly back on the park bench and coasted all the way back before he peformed yet another daring move.

"Too cool, Wolf!" Rockett hollered, impressed. "Nowthat, was choice!"

"Watch this," Ruben intercepted as he grabbed his skateboard and prepared to perform the exact same move as Wolf - only with more precision and skill.

Unfortunately, it only looked like the same move in the beginning...and it only took a teeny pebble to completely wreck the performance. Within seconds, both the skateboard and Ruben were flat on the ground.

Wolf tried to hide his laughter, but he was about as successful at hiding it as Ruben was at skateboarding. He burst out into his biggest belly laugh yet. "Is that how it's done, Rosales?" Wolf asked in a loud voice.

Ruben blushed.

"Ohmigosh, Ruben, are you okay?" Rockett asked as she rushed to Ruben's side.

"As good as I can be," Ruben said, giving her an embarrassed smile.

Rockett dug around in her backpack until she found her first aid kit. After finding out that she'd be spending the afternoon boarding with her boyfriend and his best friend, Rockett figured she'd needed to bring some back-up. She just didn't think she'd have to use it on Ruben.

Rockett carefully pressed the thick gauze from her kit onto Ruben's bruised knee. "There," she said. "Are you alright?"

Ruben smiled. "I am now."

"Good," Rockett said softly as she grinned back at him.

Wolf shifted uncomfortably. "Uhhhh...listen, before you two start all that mushy stuff..."

"Too late!" a voice hollered.

Wolf, Ruben and Rockett turned around. "Arrow!"

"Hey, babies!" Arrow waved as she approached the group. "Are you ready to do this or what?"

"Where have you been?" Rockett asked her.

"Yeah," Wolf added. "You're missing all the fun and excitement," he teased, nudging Ruben's arm."

Arrow got the hint. "What's the matter?" she asked confidently. "Have you two boys forgotten how to board?"

"Not me," Wolf replied. "But Rosales sure has."

"Whatever," Ruben said as he turned his skateboard into a mock air guitar. "Who needs a skateboard when you know how to_ ROCK_?"

"Ruben, I'd keep the showing off to a minimum," Arrow joked. "You're embarrassing yourself...and Rockett."

Ruben laughed. "Well, you know what they say, practice makes _perfecto_. I'll get the hang of this someday. For now, it is all you Rockett. Show 'em what you're made of!"

Rockett nodded as she reached out to grab the skateboard that Ruben was holding out to her.

_'Okay_,' she thought to herself. _'Here goes nothing_...'

Rockett carefully stepped up on the skateboard and brushed her left foot against the ground. Slowly, she begin to coast along the sidewalk.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this," Rockett said as she begin to pick up speed. Ruben grabbed his own skateboard and hurried on ahead to catch up. Arrow and Wolf followed.

"Whoa, slow down, Rockett!" Wolf panted. "You're showing up the best of us!"

Rockett grinned and eagerly leaned forward on her board, steadily balancing herself while still trying to pick up pace.

"Not so fast, Rockett," Arrow called out as she came gliding down the pavement. The two girls were now side-by-side, leaving the boys trailing behind them.

Ruben nudged Wolf. "Better hurry it up, man. These girls are _flying_!"

Wolf nodded as he and Ruben begin to pick up their pace. Rockett sensed the boys getting closer and pushed ahead. She smiled when she'd won the race - she had just boarded all the way across the park!

"Whoa, not bad for a newbie," Ruben said with a wink. "Not bad at all."

"I'm with Rosales on that one," Wolf replied, out of breath. "Where'd you learn those moves, Rockett? No way could you have learned them from Ruben."

Rockett just grinned. She honestly had no idea how the whole skateboarding thing had come so easily for her. But she could take a pretty good guess.

"My friend, Meg," Rockett replied apologetically. "We used to play around on those little skateboards you see in toy stores. I guess the practice paid off," she joked.

"Well, if that's how it's done, then sign me up!" Arrow said. "By the way, Rockett, wanna take another quick spin around the park? I'd ask the guys, but they look a little tired out."

"No way, Arrow. I'm just taking five so I can cook up some food while we wait," Wolf said. "Go on ahead. I've brought everything I need, and I think I see a grill over there by the bench. Gourmet hot dogs, anyone?"

"Yeah, man, I'll take five," Ruben said, as he stood up.

"Five hot dogs, Ruben? You sure?" Rockett giggled.

"S_i_. I'm gonna need the extra protein after our last big race." Ruben dusted off his shirt, grabbed his board and ran to catch up with the girls.

Arrow paused. "You guys go on ahead," she said slowly, glancing over towards Wolf. "I'll-"

"Catch up," Ruben and Rockett said at the exact same time.

"We know, we know," Ruben replied.

Rockett couldn't help but giggle. It was totally obvious why Arrow suddenly didn't feel like boarding anymore. She couldn't help but think that Arrow maybe saw this as a double-date...or as an opportunity to hang around Wolf without any of his other friends around.

Ruben looked back over at Rockett. "I guess it's just you and me, _chica_! You got this?"

"Totally," Rockett replied, already ahead of him.

"Hey, wait up!"

Moments later Ruben and Rockett were already in the centre of the park, laughing and racing and jumping in front of one another on their skateboards.

Ruben leaped up on his board, attempting at yet another one of his famous show-off moves. Two seconds later he was back on the ground.

It didn't take Rockett long to realize that she was flying solo. She quickly turned back around. "Ruben!"

But Ruben wasn't listening. "Rockett!" he cried anxiously, a look of panic on his face. "Watch out!"


	2. Too Little Too Late

Chapter 2: Too Little Too Late

"Ugh..." Rockett moaned. It had all happened so fast. One minute, she was racing in the park...with Ruben and Wolf, was it? The next, Ruben had fallen down on the ground behind her. And the very last thing she saw before everything went black, was a huge tree in front of her. Clearly, she'd come into contact with it.

Rockett's head throbbed, but only for a moment. She opened her eyes to get her bearings, but it was no use. Everything was a blur. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak, but no words emerged.

_'What's going on_? she wondered. _'What's happening? And where did everybody go_?'

"Hey, Romo!"

Rockett immediately recognized the voice as Sharla Norvell's. Normally, more than anything in the world, Rockett _hated_ being called "Romo." But right now, she didn't care. In the midst of all the confusion, Sharla's voice was actually comforting.

Rockett blinked. "Hey, Sharla...what happened?" she asked, grateful that her voice was back.

Sharla snickered. "Daydreaming again? Romo, you are _so_ clueless sometimes. Anyway, if you must know, I'm ditching class...oops, sorry. That was probably a _really_ bad idea to tell that to a goody-goody like you."

"I don't care, Sharla. I won't tell anybody...but wait, class? What do you mean?"

"You heard me. There's no way I'm showing my face in Tinydahl's room again...at least not today. I'm already late, and she'd chew me out to no end. By the way, what are you doing out here, anyway? Since when do _you_ ditch class?"

"I don't, but I-"

Suddenly, Rockett saw the time. Sharla was right. And Rockett knew she'd be in big-time trouble if she was late for class again. She still had no idea how she'd gone blank on the fact that she _had_ a Language Arts course to attend, but despite that, Rockett hurried on ahead to the classroom, opened the door, and walked in.

"Late again, are we Miss Movado?" Mrs. Tinydahl asked as soon as Rockett entered into the classroom. The Language Arts teacher did _not_ look pleased to see yet another tardy student standing in her doorway.

"Sorry, I sort of had a bit of an...accident on my way here," Rockett said, scratching her head.

_'At least, I think I did_..._man, what the heck happened this morning? It's like, I don't remember a thing_!'

It was hard to tell if Mrs. Tinydahl was going to show any sympathy at all. Her arms still folded against her chest, the English teacher replied, "You certainly did. You know the rules, Rockett. Don't come in late, or don't come in at all."

Rockett nodded and muttered "Sorry" again under her breath before making her way to her usual seat in the back of the room.

But, just as she was about to sit down, a dark-haired boy blocked her way.

"Whoa, new girl - where ya goin' in such a hurry?" he whispered.

"Ruben, what are you doing in here? You're not even supposed to be in this class," Rockett whispered back.

"Well, here I am," Ruben replied. Rockett tried to grab her usual seat before the teacher could see, but Ruben blocked her way again. "And hey, what's with the cold shoulder? Definitely way too early for the negative juice."

Rockett rolled her eyes. She was already in trouble for being late, and she definitely didn't need to get into any more trouble before she even got to her desk.

"Ruben, move, I mean it," Rockett said, trying to keep her voice to a whisper. She glanced over her shoulder at the teacher, hoping she wasn't about to get slammed.

"Hey, not a problem," Ruben replied smoothly. "Just wanted to say _gracias_ and all for takin' the heat off me today. You know I'm the one who usually gets busted for coming in tardy."

Rockett pretended to ignore him. She didn't exactly know why she felt so indifferent towards the usually-charming Ruben Rosales. Perhaps it was because she'd already had a semi-stressful morning, or maybe it was because the guy was already pushing her buttons so early in the morning. Of course, Rockett knew how to push his right back - it was like the two of them had some sort of weird connection in that way. But today, she simply did not feel like messing with it.

Instead of trying to get to her usual seat, Rockett quickly turned around and took a seat at the desk in front.

Ruben wasn't having it. As soon as she'd sat down, Rockett could sense that much.

He leaned forward and tapped her shoulder. Instinctively, Rockett's hand shot up. "Mrs. Tinydahl, can I please change seats? _Someone's_ really bothering me," she blurted.

_'...Okay, that definitely came out a little harsh_. _But seriously, why does Ruben always have to pick on me_? _Especially now, with Mrs. Tinydahl getting on me for being late again_. _It is so not the time for The Ruben Show_.'

Dana St. Clair burst out laughing. "Haha! Ohh, Rockett you are so funny!"

Rockett blinked, confused.

_'Is Dana like, being sarcastic or something_? _I mean, since when does she think_ _that __**anything**__ I do is funny_? _Well, unless it's something embarrassing_.'

Rockett shook her head. Things were definitely weird today.

"Rockett! Rockett, wait up!"

Rockett peered out of Mrs. Tinydahl's classroom, trying to locate the voice.

A short, pleasant-faced blonde stopped beside her. "There you are."

Rockett squinted. "Um, do I know you?"

The girl blinked, clearly confused. "...What?"

"How do you know my name?" Rockett asked.

The blonde's eyes still searched her. "You're acting very strange today, Rockett. Is everything alright?"

But before Rockett could reply, a tall boy wearing a red t-shirt, jeans and a mega-watt smile called out, "Hey, Rockett!"

Rockett gulped, forgetting all about the girl standing next to her. "Um, hi," she said nervously.

_'That was pathetic! First I completely ignore this poor girl, and then I get totally tongue-tied in front of_..._Cleve_? _How strange is that? But, he does look really cute today_...'

"Great job on the article about the sports of WP - you definitely did a good job makin' a guy look good," Cleve replied smoothly.

"Gee, thanks!" Rockett said, realizing that she had definitely sounded a bit _too_ excited.

"And Jessie," Cleve replied, turning to face the blonde girl. "Thanks again for helping Darnetta out with the photos last weekend. All I can say is, _props_!" Cleve held up his hand for a high-five.

"No problem," Jessie smiled as she shifted her backpack to her left arm and slapped his hand. "I was glad to help."

Jessie's smile suddenly dropped. "But speaking of which, have you seen Darnetta around lately?"

"Nope," Cleve said, flipping his blonde hair to the side. "We don't exactly hang around in the same circles, if ya know what I mean. She's more on the...quiet side. So, she's probably in the computer lab or something." Cleve cocked an eyebrow. "How come?"

"Oh, uh no reason..." Jessie said, glancing down. "Hey, I'll see you later, Rockett. Bye, Cleve." With that, Jessie fled down the hall.

_'Who is this girl_?! _She totally intercepted while me and Cleve were talking! And she still_ _hasn't told me how she even knows my name_!'

"Yeah. Well, listen, I gotta go too, Rockett. Promised I'd help the Diamond boy out with a little somethin' before next period. So, see you later!" Cleve nodded as he headed down the hall.

"Bye, Cleve," Rockett waved.

"Cleve Goodstaff?" a voice scoffed suddenly. "Dream on, girl."

Rockett turned around to see the same teasing boy from her Language Arts class.

_'Ohhh, why does Ruben have to totally kill the whole mood here_? _I mean, seriously, does this guy just love to see me in misery, or what_?'

"What are you talking about, Ruben?" Rockett asked, somewhat defensively.

"Hey, I'm just tryin' to stop you from making a _gigante_ mistake," Ruben replied.

Rockett folded her arms across her chest. "And what would that be?"

"Goodstaff. We go way back. He's a cool guy. Definitely not your type, though."

Rockett pursed her lips in annoyance. "Well, who are _you _to tell _me_ who my type is, anyway?"

"I dunno," Ruben replied. "You just seem like, more of an indie girl. The kind that's into people who, you know, who do their own thing. Somebody like..."

"Like who?"

Ruben held up his hands. "Not sayin' any names here, but-"

"So what are you saying?" Rockett asked impatiently.

_'This is ridiculous_! _I've got class in five minutes, and this guy has not only ruined half my morning, but now he's just flat-out wasting my time_.'

"Look, Cleve's cool and all, but honestly, he's too predictable. Hanging out in WP's most stuck-up clique, flirting with girls, playing sports, ya-da, ya-da, ya-da...it get's pretty dull after a while. You're not like that. You need some spice in your life, you know what I'm sayin'?"

But before Rockett could say, "No, I don't," the bell rang for next period.

"Rockett, wait," Ruben said just as Rockett had turned to go. "Look, I'm sorry for butting in. It's just, you're a cool girl. I'm just lookin' out for ya, that's all."

For a moment, Rockett softened. Maybe Ruben wasn't so bad after all. He was definitely annoying, no question, but maybe he actually had a sweet side.

The moment was short-lived. Half a second later, the little elf was back.

"That," he said with a smirk, "and I know things'll never work out with you and Cleve."

Rockett could feel her face flush. "How can you be so sure?" she fumed. "What do you know about-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Patrons of the peanut gallery, turn that teenage volume _waaaay_ down," said Mr. Baldus, who had just joined them in the hall.

_'Oh, great,' _Rockett thought as she glanced around the nearly-empty hallway. She, Ruben and Mr. Baldus were the only people left in it.

"Rocky, don't you have an art class to attend?" Mr. Baldus replied.

"Mr. Baldus!" Rockett wailed. "How many times do I have to tell you that I hate being called that?!"

"Whoopsies! Sorry, sorry, I knew that. Well, what about you, Rosales?" Mr. Baldus asked, clearly trying to patch up the damage by shifting the attention over to Ruben. "What's your excuse? _Clase de musica_ cancelled, maestro?"

"Nu-uh," said Ruben. "I'm on my way." A playful smile danced on his lips as he slowly looked at Rockett. "Just thought I'd give _Rocky _here some pointers before my next class," he said slyly.

Rockett opened her mouth to say something, but Mr. Baldus intercepted. "Put a lid on it, Mr. Rosales," he said, pointing a warning finger. Then, he burst out into song. "Even when the girl's got your heart _ablaaaaaaze, _keep the flirting to a mini-_mum_, 'fore she pulls out the...pepper _maaaaace_!"

Ruben tried to hide his blush. "Whatever," he groaned. "I gotta get to class. "Later, Mr. B. "

Ruben got closer to Rockett and whispered, "Later, _Rocky_. I mean, _Rockett_."

Rockett let out a frustrated groan as she headed for class. _'Okay_,' she thought as she veered closer to the art room. _'I'm pretty sure art class is right after lunch - not before it. And certainly not right after Mrs. Tinydahl's class_.'

Rockett was almost to the art room when she suddenly stopped. Dana was just a few paces ahead of her.

_'Oh, great_.'

"Oh, great!" Dana grinned as soon as she saw Rockett approaching. "C'mon, Rockett, we've been waiting for you," she said, taking Rockett by the arm and leading her into the classroom.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second," Rockett said, drawing her arm back. "Why do you want me going in there? Is there like, a bucket full of worms dangling over the doorway or something?"

_'"Of course not, Rockett. Why ever would I do that_?_"' 'That's what she'll probably say just to get me to go in there, right before she dumps a bucket of worms and other unmentionables onto my head_,' Rockett thought.

But to Rockett's surprise, Dana didn't say what Rockett had expected. "Worms?" Dana replied, sounding completely confused. "No way. We've got something better..."

As she spoke, Dana pulled Rockett into the classroom.

"..._This_!"

Rockett's jaw dropped.

She had never seen the art room look like _this _before. It actually kind of resembled Rockett's bedroom - since almost everything in it was designed by her!

Somehow, all of her creations that she'd made in class, well, they were on display right in front of her eyes!

"Whoa, Dana what's all this about?" Rockett inquired.

"Duh," Dana smiled. "Mr. Rarebit's competition? The one where he picks the best artist in the class and dedicates his room as a memorial-type museum to them?"

"But, I don't understand. I didn't even get a chance to sign up for this-"

"I know," Dana intercepted. "But clearly_ you're _the most talented artist in here. So I signed you up. _And _told the rest of the kids in here to vote for you...not that I needed to do much convincing, of course."

Rockett was still in complete and utter shock. As far as Rockett was concerned, Dana St. Clair had _never_ liked her. Any good moments that the two of them had together where they weren't arguing were always short-lived. So, what exactly was going on? Rockett wanted to know.

"But, why would you want me to win?" Rockett asked.

From the corner of her eye, Rockett could see Miko and Nakili roll their eyes. "Ugh," Miko said, sounding a little agitated. "Here we go..."

"Are you kidding me, Rockett?" Dana replied. "The _real _question you should be asking is, why would I _not_ want you to win? You're like, the most talented girl in the school. Plus, you're an amazing artist and totally creative. In fact, the CSGs should become the C_R_Gs in honor of you...that is, if you join of course. You're totally awesome."

"CRGs?" Rockett asked weakly.

"Cool _Rockett_ Girls, of course," Dana replied.

_'Something is definitely up with Dana_. _She's_ _**never**_ _nice to me, and normally, saying all that stuff to me would just make her sick. I've gotta find out what's going on.'_

"Look, Dana, that's really nice of you," Rockett said carefully. "But, I have to ask...why are you being so nice to me?"

Before Dana had a chance to reply, Mr. Rarebit walked into the room and greeted his class. "Ahh, welcome my lovely artists. Sorry for my lateness, I was in a meeting."

For once, the class was quiet.

"No matter," Mr. Rarebit replied, ignoring the silence. "It was still uncalled for."

The art teacher walked over to his desk and plucked a rose from the vase that stood on top of it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the rose's fresh scent. "The calm, cool scent of a rose as lovely as such," he sighed. "This is what my mornings are all about."

Miko pointed to her head. "Somebody's crazy," she said under her breath.

Rockett had to do a double-take. Miko had been serious. But, still. It was odd. As the smartest girl in school, Miko _never_ back-sassed her teachers. Especially not ones she had major crushes on.

"Metaphorically speaking, of course," the teacher continued. "Now, can anyone tell me what I mean by that?"

The classroom remained quiet. Mr. Rarebit chose to call on Sharla.

"Ms. Norvell?"

"Uhh, Mr. Rarebit?" Sharla replied. "This is an art class...not an English one."

"Right you are, my dainty, little buttercup!" Mr. Rarebit smiled. "But art is more than just pens and paper. It is emotion, feeling, speech...do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Gardening?" guessed Sharla sarcastically, her face still a little flushed from being called "buttercup."

"Come now, Sharla, dear. You are a poet-"

"Yeah..." Sharla said uncomfortably as she slowly sank down into her chair.

"It is nothing to be ashamed of, Ms. Norvell. You have a gift." Mr. Rarebit lifted the rose up high enough so the class could see. "Observe," he said dramatically.

"Oh, brother," muttered Miko.

"A rose is a most beautiful flower. But what would it be without each and every one of its petals, hm? You, my pupils, are rose petals. You brighten the mornings with each of your own creative and artistic abilities. And, just like this very rose, you all are working together in perfect harmony to create the perfect..."

Rockett didn't remember where exactly in the lecture she had dozed off. Normally, art was interesting. And Mr. Rarebit was easily one of Rockett's favorite teachers. But, for some reason, Mr. Rarebit's speech didn't exactly hold her attention today - like it normally did. Her mind was way too consumed with all that had been going on that day.

_'My class schedule's totally off, and everyone's acting way bizarre...like, what's with Dana being all freaky around me? This is just too weird.'_

Rockett got up from her desk, gathered her things and walked out of the art room. On her way to her locker, she bumped into someone.

"Oh!" she said suddenly. "Sorry, Sharla! Guess I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going."

"Yeah, I'll bet winning that big contest in art class got _you_ pretty excited," Sharla replied. "By the way, your stuff's really not so bad. I'd say you actually deserved it, Romo."

The "Romo" bit went straight into one ear and out the other; Rockett had only picked up the compliment. "Gee, you really think so, Sharla?" she smiled. "Believe it or not, I totally didn't even _enter_ the competition to begin with."

"Lucky. You don't even have to sign up, and already, they think of you as some sort of big star. Wish I could get that kind of credit..." Sharla said glumly.

"Actually," Rockett said apologetically. "It's not as good as all that. See, Dana signed me up, and -"

"Dana?" Sharla scoffed. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Yeah," Rockett said suspiciously. "Why, do you know something about that? I mean, like why she signed me up?"

"Are you kidding me? Like I even _walk_ in the same circles as _that_ nutjob. I was just wondering why a person like that would even stick her nose in your business to begin with, that's all."

"Hmm. Well, maybe you're right. I mean, she _has_ been acting pretty nice to me lately, but I don't see why that would have anything to do with her signing me up," Rockett replied. She glanced around the hallways. The bell had just gone off, and kids were already rushing to their classrooms. It was definitely time to get a move on.

"Anyway," Rockett said as she started to walk over to her locker. "Think Dana is up to something?"

"I don't know. Who cares, really. Anyway, I guess it's better than having that Whittaker chick on your case. So, Romo, you ready to get out of here or what?" Sharla asked. "I'm plannin' on skippin' through a few of my next classes and checkin' out what this place is _really_ like. Of course, I'm probably way looney to ask you this, but...whaddya say, wanna check this place out or what?"

"Listen, Sharla, thanks and all, but I sort of have to get to-"

"We _could_ spy on St. Clair, maybe even figure out what she's really up to," Sharla offered.

"Ummm..." Rockett said.

_'Ditch class to go spy on Dana? I mean, yeah. I'll admit that I'd love to know what that girl's up to, but at the same time, just how many detentions would that equal? Probably a lot. Probably even more that that whiney Ruben kid gets in a whole month. No. Definitely not.'_

"Sharla, don't you think we'd have to spend like,_ years _in detention if we ditched class to do_ that_?" Rockett tried. "I mean, there's no way you can think detention is_ fun_, right?"

"_Duh_!" Sharla replied. "Of course I don't like detention. Can't stand it, actually. But, hey. Who says we're gonna get caught?"

Rockett couldn't believe it. Had Sharla forgotten about a certain little sneak who just _loved_ to report constantly late WP students?

"Um, Sharla? Bo might. He's totally always hanging around in the halls like all the time and - wait, a minute," Rockett said, slowly getting it. "You and Bo are like, really tight, aren't you guys?"

"Eh, I wouldn't say that much. But, let's just say, he's the reason I don't often go to detention, if you know what I mean," Sharla replied with a sneaky grin. "See, Rockett, it's not what ya got, it's who you know. So whaddya say now? We're killin' daylight. And I've got things to do around here, so are you comin' or what?"


	3. Bad Girl

Chapter 3: Bad Girl

"Uhhh..." Rockett repeated, still wondering whether or not she should respond.

Sharla rolled her eyes. "Knew it," she snapped.

_'You know what? I'm really getting tired of Sharla always thinking of me as some sort of big baby or like, whatever. I can totally step up to the plate when I need to! And if what Sharla says is true about Bo not ratting the two of us out, then I guess I'll take her word for it. At least maybe I can find out what Dana is up to._

"Sure," Rockett said, sounding more unsure that she had meant to. She tried again. "I mean, yeah. Let's do it, Sharla!"

Sharla smiled triumphantly. "Wow, Movado. I'm impressed. I definitely didn't think that _you_ had the guts to ditch class."

All Rockett could do was smile to keep from cracking. The truth was, that underneath it all, she really _didn't_ have the guts. But, she wasn't about to let that show.

"C'mon, Sharla," Rockett said, despite herself. "Let's get out of here before anybody sees us."

"I'm all over it," Sharla said, glancing around.

Sharla was quick. She glanced from left to right, from right to left as if she were crossing traffic. Swiftly, she raced on ahead of Rockett and jumped into a large bag that the school janitor had been hauling around.

"In there?" Rockett asked, hesitantly.

"Chill, Romo. It's only leaves. This guy was cleaning out the front yard by the Birdcage. No big."

Rockett swallowed hard, and then dove in.

_'So this is why her hair's always messed up when she comes into class,' _Rockett thought_._

Once the hallways cleared out, Rockett and Sharla jumped out of the bags and onto the floor. Rockett was impressed. Not a single teacher _or_ hall moniter had caught them. Sharla was a new _kind_ of good.

"Wow, Sharla! That was actually kind of...fun!" Rockett said, surprised.

"Duh, didn't I tell you?" Sharla said with a bored look. "Now, which locker is St. Clair's?"

"Uhh..."

"That one," Sharla said, as soon as she'd spotted it. "On the far left."

"How can you be sure?" Rockett asked.

"It's got a dumb CSG sticker on it. Who else does that?"

"Maybe one of the other CSGs?"

"Then why does this one have a _"D_" on it? Watch and learn," Sharla said, as she opened up the locker.

Rockett's eyes widened. Not because of anything that was inside of Dana's locker, but more because of how she felt _inside_ for agreeing to snoop around with Sharla. Now, Rockett had to admit. She felt rotten.

Sharla stuck her hand inside, pulling out Dana's journal. "Now, let's see..."

"Sharla, don't read that!" Rockett blurted.

"You've got to be kidding me, Rockett. You _wanted_ to do this, remember? Besides, what's it matter? It's not like we're even getting the full story here. She's gonna write more in it later, and we probably won't even see it."

Rockett winced. She knew that ditching class was a bad idea, but ditching class with Sharla Norvell _and _agreeing to snoop through Dana's locker was the worst. She was just about to speak up, when a horrible thought suddenly crossed her mind.

_'Wait a minute...if Sharla has access to Dana's locker, doesn't that mean she has access to all the lockers?'_

"Sharla..." Rockett asked slowly. "You've never snooped in my locker before, have you?"

"Nah," Sharla replied. "Can't get into it."

"Why not?"

"'Cause, those lockers? They're sealed up tight, man. In fact, the only locker I can get into at all is St. Clair's locker. Bo had a bone to pick with her over something, so one day when she left her locker open, he looked inside and got her combination. The rest of the combinations are in the teacher's lounge, which trust me, other than that, there's no reason to go inside _there_."

"Okay, well can we put it back now? I'm starting to feel a little..."

"Bad to the bone?" Sharla smirked.

"Yeah."

"Okay," Sharla replied. "Then, I'll read it instead."

"Wait, Sharla, don't-"

"Hey, you kids!" a voice hollered.

Rockett's breath caught in her chest. The voice sounded awfully like the _awful_ Mr. Pill, head of food services at WP. It took a shove from Sharla to get her moving again.

"Go, go!" Sharla hollered as the girls raced down the hall.

"Head for the restrooms, quick!" Sharla said. "The last thing I need is for that jerk Pill to rat me out again!"

Rockett and Sharla ran until they finally made it inside the girls' restroom. _"Whew_!"

Rockett let out a deep breath. "That was close!"

"Too close," Sharla said.

"Who was that behind us, anyway?"

"Sounded like Pill. Boy, am I glad we escaped. That guy's way looney, man."

"Agreed," Rockett said, still completely shocked that they'd made it out of the hallway in time.

Suddenly, Sharla flipped open a book and begin to read aloud. "_Rockett won the art contest! I am sooo excited! She is so talented. I totally wish I could be just like her!"_ she said in an overly-sugary voice.

Rockett's jaw dropped when she saw the cover. Was Sharla playing a joke or what? There's no way it could have been -

"Ohmigosh! That's _Dana's_ diary!?" Rockett gasped. "Sharla, you have to put it back!"

Sharla clamped the book shut. "Sheez, Romo, do you ever like to have a good time? I'll put it back later. But I'm _not_ leaving until that hallway's cleared out."

Rockett wasn't listening. "You have to! If she comes in here, she'll totally see you!"

"Yeah, so? I'll just tell her that I found it in here. I mean, let's be honest, doesn't she leave stuff around this place all the time, anyway?"

"It doesn't matter, we have to put it back," Rockett said firmly.

"Fine," Sharla said, tossing her the diary. "Then _you_ put it back."

Rockett gulped. But before she had a chance to say anything, Sharla slipped out the bathroom window.

"Look, I'm running over to the convience store to grab a couple energy bars. You want anything?" Sharla asked, halfway out the window.

"Yeah," Rockett said, aggravated. "I want you to put this diary back!"

Sharla lowered her voice. "Rockett, I can't. I'm telling you the truth, if Mr. Pill or anyone else catches me-"

"Sharla, you really need to put this thing back, you-"

"Rockett, listen! I'll be suspended. I can't get caught anymore."

Rockett blinked in confusion. "Alright, well if you can't get caught, then why do you keep sneaking out?"

"Because," Sharla said. Rockett couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like Sharla had tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't stand to be around all these teachers all the time. Every single one of them is out to get me, I swear."

"Yeah, but it's only because they want you to be in class on time and-" Rockett started.

"You don't get it, Rockett," Sharla snapped. "They never wanted me in there to begin with. I had a cruddy reputation before I even walked in through those doors. And that's why I don't need to be around here." Before Rockett could say anything else, Sharla was already all the way out of the window.

Rockett stood alone, still holding the diary, completely shocked. She should have known that ditching class would backfire. Especially since she'd ditched with Sharla.


	4. The Inside Scoop

Chapter 4: The Inside Scoop

Rockett peeked out the door of the restroom. She couldn't see Mr. Pill, or anybody else for that matter. She hesitated; Mr. Pill wasn't the type to pop out all of a sudden out of nowhere. He may have seen them in the halls earlier, but still. Maybe he was gone.

Rockett decided to take a chance. Now that Sharla was gone, maybe she could at least still make it into her class. She'd be tardy, no question, but at least she wouldn't be marked absent.

Rockett carefully opened the door all the way and slipped out. The school halls were pretty different when nobody else was in them. They'd felt empty with Sharla, but now things were even quieter now that she was by herself. Still, Rockett knew she had an assignment to carry out, so she pressed on ahead.

She tried to make it to Dana's locker as fast as possible. After all, she did have a class to attend, and the longer she held onto Dana's diary, the weirder she felt. It reminded Rockett of the time she'd been slaving over the CSG's Private Report Book. And she definitely knew better than to get herself involved like_ that _again.

When Rockett finally reached Dana's locker, she was mortified; she had forgotten that before they'd left, Sharla had slammed the locker door shut! Now, Rockett had absolutely no way of getting back inside to return the diary.

_'Ohhhh, no! This is just great. Of course, this is what I get for deciding to snoop around with Sharla!'_

Rockett anxiously bit her lip, trying to come up with a plan. All of a sudden, she remembered it - the teacher's lounge. That was the only other place that Sharla said she could get a copy of Dana's combination.

Unfortunately though, now with Sharla gone, Rockett knew it was going to be _much_ harder getting in to the teacher's lounge. She wished Sharla would hurry and get back to the school.

_'Darn, why is it always me who gets into these messes? Now I really don't know what to do. I doubt they left the teacher's lounge door open, and who knows how long before Sharla gets back?'_

Suddenly, Rockett heard footsteps in the hall. Diary still in hand, Rockett raced back to the restroom and locked herself inside a stall.

The footsteps got louder until someone had actually walked into the restroom. It was hard to tell who it was behind the stall door, but Rockett knew that no matter who it was, she'd needed to stay quiet. The last thing she wanted was to get caught red-handed holding Dana's diary. On the other hand, she'd also be out of excuses for being late to class.

Rockett held her breath until the person left. Finally, she opened the the stall door and emerged.

Something wasn't quite right. For one thing the cubby at the front of the restroom had been removed since the last time she had been in there...which was less than five minutes ago. And there was writing all over the walls. And the bathroom looked a _lot_ smaller.

_'Ohmigosh!' Rockett realized. 'I'm in the boy's bathroom!'_

Luckily, she heard the footsteps before the door swung open again. It was Rockett's two milli-second warning before she ran in and hid behind a stall again.

Rockett repeated the ritual; holding her breath until whoever it was, was gone. She wrinkled her nose at the sight of the dirty walls covered in chalk and pen. She could barely make out what all the weird symbols were, anyway. She almost looked away when a certain symbol on the stall door caught her attention. "W.D. loves A.M."

W.D.? Rockett was no super-genius, but she knew she could pretty much figure out the equation. The handwriting initials were all over the bathroom door. It all started to make sense. The chicken scratch was _actually _a message.

_'Too weird! I guess this is why boys don't keep diaries. They can just post each other's feelings all over these walls!'_

Immediately, Rockett scanned the door for her own initials...hoping they'd align with a certain tall, blonde, popular boy's.

_'C'mon, c'mon! C.G.! C.G.! Where are his initials, anyway?'_

The handwriting was bad, making it almost un-readable. Rockett kept scanning the door.

_'C.F. loves P.J.', M.D. loves J.M., A.Z. loves R.M...'_

Finally, Rockett found her own initials. They were next to the letters "A.Z."

_'Yuck! A.Z.? I think I know what that stands for...but I sure wish I didn't!'_

Rockett searched frantically for another name - there had to be at least one other boy in the school who liked her besides Arnold.

It took a while, but finally, she found her name again:

"R.R. loves R.M."

The first time around, the signature wasn't that hard to figure out. In fact, it was pretty obvious, if not unfortunate. Arnold Zeitbaum, the biggest nerd at WP. It was sweet, but it still left Rockett feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

But who was "R.R."? Before she had a chance to think about who the other initials might belong to, Rockett heard the bathroom door close. Whoever had been in there had just left. Now was her chance.

Rockett opened the door and ran right out of the boy's bathroom before anybody else could enter again.

Unfortunately, this time she got caught.


	5. Mischief

Chapter 5: Mischief

"Hey, hey, new girl! Never thought I'd see you ditchin' class."

_'Okay. So things could be worse. I get caught, but at least I get caught by somebody who probably won't rat me out.'_

Rockett felt the tiniest bit of relief to see that it was only Ruben, and_ not _a teacher. She sighed.

"So what's up?" Ruben asked. "Takin' a break to go do some journaling about _yours_ truly?" He gestured towards the diary Rockett was carrying.

Rockett froze. "Uhm, no," she said, trying to cover up the name on the diary. "I just, um..."

"Hey, wait a second," Ruben said suddenly.

Rockett froze.

"...Weren't you hanging out with Sharla earlier?"

"Sharla?" Rockett asked innocently. "Like, you mean, during my art class?"

Ruben laughed. "Oh, I get it. Ms. Rockett Movado is ready to spice up her image. She shoots, she scores! And then she ditches class with bad-girl Sharla Norvell! I can see it now, _'Rockett Goes Wild!'_ Now playing in theatres everywhere."

"Ha-ha, very funny," Rockett replied. "But, it's not what you think. I mean, it's not like I'm all of a sudden going to start ditching class."

Ruben cocked an eyebrow. "Uh-huh."

Rockett tried to act calm, but she couldn't help it. She knew there was no way she could just leave for class and try to figure out a way to give the diary back to Dana later. Plus, there was still time to get it back into her locker. She may have to miss class, but it would certainly be better than having to flat-out hand the diary to Dana in person.

Rockett took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, swallowing her pride.

_'I cannot believe I'm right about to do this.'_

"Can you keep a secret?"

Ruben nodded.

"Alright, well, I have something that really needs to get returned to its rightful owner."

"Yeah..."

"And to do that, I need a way to get into the teacher's lounge..."

"Uh-huh...?"

"And...well, listen, you're pretty good with stuff like that, aren't you? Like, sneaking into places and stuff?"

"Depends. If I'm prankin' all the teachers with a surprise worm outbreak, then yes, I'm good with that. If you need me to go in there and steal somethin' for ya, ask your girl Sharla instead."

"How about a combination for a locker that doesn't belong to me?" Rockett asked.

"Okay, you lost me there," Ruben said. "Un-confuse me, girl. Is it a secret you need me to keep, or something you need me to do?"

"Both," Rockett replied. "I mean, if you're up for it, that is."

_'I really hate having to ask Ruben. I mean, for one thing, I don't even know if I can trust him. Ohhh, if Cleve were here instead, he could totally help me out! I don't know if he knows anything about getting into the teacher's lounge, but still, he'd totally be able to come up with something.'_

"Listen, it's complicated and all," Rockett said. "But I just really, really need to figure out a way to get in there to grab a combination. Or at least use it to put this..._thing_...back that needs to be umm...put back."

"Okay," Ruben said slowly. "What thing?"

Rockett hesitated.

_'I still don't know if I can trust him. I can say I want Cleve here to help me and all that, but when it all comes down to it, Ruben is the best person to help me get into the teacher's lounge. I'm sure he's been in there a million times - with his parents, at least. There's got to be a way to get him to help me without telling him why I need his help.'_

"It's just...something I can't say. But, it's really important. And I would really appreciate it if you'd help me," Rockett said.

"Well," Ruben said, hesitantly. "I've got a class I've got to get back to. I just stopped by with my "bathroom excuse" 'cause Mr. Weaseldorf's gettin' pretty lame with the lectures. If I'm gone for too long, he'll get suspicious, and the last thing I need is another detention..."

Rockett nodded. She couldn't ask Ruben to leave class just so she could put Dana's diary back; it was a mess that she'd gotten into on her own, and she'd have to deal with it on her own.

"...But, if you say it's really important, then, I guess I can't argue with that," Ruben finished. "Alright, c'mon."

Rockett smiled. Maybe the guy wasn't half bad after all.

"First things first, we need a diversion, something to get them to open up that door," Ruben said. He and Rockett were standing outside of the teacher's lounge. Rockett tried to remain calm. But she still couldn't help wishing that they just had a key instead! Whatever idea Ruben had, it was sure to be one thing: un-subtle.

"I've got it!" he said suddenly. Rockett followed as Ruben ran down the hallway to his locker. He quickly punched in his combination and opened the door.

"Wow," Rockett said, holding her breath. "This is what _your_ locker looks like?" She couldn't help but notice all of the mess. And the smell.

"Yeah," Ruben said, sighing in awe at all the junk that surrounded them. He cocked an eyebrow and grinned when he caught the look on Rockett's face. "Pretty _fantastico_, no?"

_'Pretty disgusting if you ask me.'_

"Um, yeah, it's great," she lied. "But, isn't it hard to find things in all this...stuff?"

"Nope, not really," Ruben said as he tossed a rubber spider out of the way. He dug around in his jacket pocket, half-hanging up in his locker. "Gotta be around here somewhere," he muttered, still rummaging.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Rockett asked.

"My prankster kit," Ruben replied. "I know I left it in here somewhere."

"Do you need some help?" Rockett asked, reaching inside the locker herself.

She caught Ruben blushing when she accidentially touched his hand. "Um, sure," he grinned, looking up at her. "That'd be great. It's pretty big. You'll know it when you see it. And it's got all of the most excellent stuff that I'll need in order to distract _los maestros_."

Rockett nodded. She glanced around Ruben's locker, trying to find the kit. She reached for a crumpled-looking paper bag with the word "maybe?" written on it in pen. "Maybe it's in here," she said, peering inside the bag.

Ruben stopped her from looking inside. "Uhh, no," he said quickly, taking the bag. "That's just, uhh..."

"A present," Rockett guessed. "Well, who's it for?"

"What? Oh, uh, nobody."

Ruben dug around some more. "Ahh, here it is!" he said lovingly as soon as he'd found his prankster kit. "Okay, let's go!" Ruben closed his locker and the two set off back down the hallway.

"You sure you know what you're doing with that thing?" Rockett asked as Ruben pulled out a little red remote control.

"You bet," Ruben replied. "Watch this," he said as he pushed the button on the remote.

_**"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"**_

Rockett covered her ears, trying to blot out the most horrendous noise she had ever heard. Before she could figure out where the noise had come from, Ruben grabbed her hand and lead her behind one of the big garbage bags.

_'Uh-oh. Here we go again.'_

The principal of Whistling Pines, Mrs. Herrera, was the first to emerge from the lounge. "Goodness, what was that? Nat, dear, did you perhaps pull the fire alarm again?"

"No siree, it wasn't me!" Rockett and Ruben heard Mr. Baldus say.

"Hmm.." Mrs. Herrera replied. "That's odd. The sprinkler system doesn't seem to be working. Well, I'd better go check on the classes and see how everything is. Nat, would you mind terribly going to check the controls in the attic?"

"The a-attic? But, Mrs. H! The WP ghost is roaming those areas for sure! Could you make Bill Pill do it instead?"

"Enough, Mr. Baldus," Mrs. Herrera said firmly. "He's in the cafeteria, preparing the next meal for our students. I need you to be brave enough to go up there and check. Besides, there's no such things as ghosts, dearie. You should know that."

"Okay! I'll get right to it, ha!" Mr. B laughed nervously.

"Thank you."

"Is the coast clear?" Rockett whispered to Ruben.

"Not yet," Ruben whispered back, trying to get a better glance. "Wait just a sec. I'll tell you when."

"Okay."

"...Bill Pill, crazy chef. What kinda disgusting meal is he cookin' up today, anyway? Pig soup? Clay chowder? _Ahahaha_! He's probably so proud of himself! Well, guess what, Pill? None of the kiddies like your cookin'! So,_ ha_!"

Rockett and Ruben exchanged glances. Mr. Baldus definitely had issues when it came to muttering things about Mr. Pill. Even more so than even Sharla did.

"Okay," Ruben said quickly. "Now's our chance, let's go!"

The two of them got up from their hiding place and quickly slipped into the teacher's lounge.

"I'll stand at the front to make sure nobody comes in. You go find whatever it is you're looking for," Ruben said as soon as they'd made it in.

"Okay, thanks!" Rockett said, as she rushed to look inside one of the cabinet files. She pulled out a folder and peeked inside. No luck. She tried another folder with no better results. Finally, she reached inside the principal's slot on the shelf and pulled out a folder labeled "combinations."

_'Perfect! This is it!'_

Rockett tried not to look at the other combinations that were covering the entire page. Not that she'd be able to memorize any of them, but still, she knew better than to peek. When she'd found Dana's, she grabbed a piece of paper from the bin and copied it down.

"Got it?" Ruben asked from the front of the teacher's lounge.

"Got it!" Rockett responded, putting the files back and grabbing her sheet of paper with the combination.

Just as she was about to run back to the front, Rockett heard a voice. A voice that sounded suspiciously like the school principal.

"Mr. Rosales, what are you doing in here?" Mrs. Herrera asked.

Ruben froze. "Uhmm..."


	6. Rockett To The Rescue

Chapter 6: Rockett To The Rescue

"There you are, Mrs. H!" Ruben said. "What a coincidence! I've been lookin' for ya!"

"Mmm-hmm," the principal replied. "I see. And just what is it that you need, dear? Were you perhaps, the one who pulled the fire alarm?"

"The fire alarm?" Ruben scratched his head. "No way. I totally don't even know how to get to the fire alarm."

_'Yeah, right,' _thoughtRockett.

"Well, was there something that you needed, Mr. Rosales?" Mrs. Herrera asked. "You're blocking my way."

"Oh, I am? Ho, ho, sorry 'bout that! I didn't even realize I was in your way," Ruben stalled, still standing in the doorway.

"You're acting very strange, Ruben. What is-"

"Ow! Ooh, ow!" Ruben said suddenly. "Ouch."

"What's wrong, dear?"

"My uh...head! It really hurts! I think I might have busted it or something."

Mrs. Herrera looked concerned. "On what?"

"The um...thing...I mean, ohhh, I don't remember! Can you point me to the direction of the nurse's office?"

"You don't know how to get there yourself? Why, Ruben, you've been at this school for almost three years, now."

"I forgot. I think I have amnesia," Ruben tried.

Mrs. Herrera folded her arms across her chest. She might have been fooled at first, but now she looked anything but amused.

"I see what's going on," she said sternly.

Rockett froze. _'Uh-oh. Here she comes...'_

"Ruben Rosales, I am going to have to schedule a parent-teacher conference once again for your behaviour."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Ruben asked. "I didn't do anything, Mrs. Herrera! Honest."

The principal nodded. "Yes, you did. Why you aren't telling me the truth is beyond me, but I know that you're the one who pulled the fire alarm. Let's go have a chat in my office, shall we?"

_'Ohmigosh! I totally got him sent to the principal's office! I've got to do something...but what?'_

"Whoa, whoa, Mrs. H, I swear I didn't pull any fire alarms. I mean, the sprinklers didn't even go off," Ruben protested.

"Then just what was all of that noise?"

Ruben pulled out his red remote control. "This. It's got a button on it that makes really loud noises. Drives everybody _loco_."

"I'm afraid I don't believe you, Mr. Rosales."

"Trust me. It's not something most people would like to hear again."

"Ruben..."

"Alright, if you insist," Ruben said calmly, pushing the button on his remote to demonstrate.

This time, Rockett remembered to cover her ears.

_**"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHHHHH !"**_

When the noise had finally ended, Mrs. Herrera unplugged her own ears. "In my office," she said. "Now."

"Mrs. Herrera, wait!" Rockett called suddenly, as she emerged from her hiding place in the teacher's lounge.

"Rockett Movado, what are you doing in there? You know perfectly well that the teacher's lounge is off-limits to students," Mrs. Herrera replied.

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just...don't punish Ruben. I mean, he was only trying to prove to you that he didn't pull the alarm."

"Yes," Mrs. Herrera said slowly. "But it was not necessary for him to press the button on that very loud...thing he has."

"But, you didn't believe him, he had to!" Rockett tried.

Mrs. Herrera was silent as she glanced at the two of them. After a long moment, she replied, "I will let this slide just this once, under _two_ conditions. _You _are never allowed in the teacher's lounge again unless I tell you otherwise," she said, looking at Rockett. "And as long as you're in these halls young man, _you_ are never allowed to press that...that...thing again," the principal said, glancing at Ruben. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, Mrs. Herrera," Rockett and Ruben said.

"Good. And remember students, I am a firm believer in learning. I don't necessarily believe that you should both be punished, so as long as you learn from your mistakes. Now the two of you, run along to class," the principal said.

"Okay," Rockett smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. Herrera."

"Yeah, _gracias_,_ Se__ñora _H!" Ruben replied as he and Rockett walked back down the hallway to their next class.

_'I can't even believe how close that was! But gosh...it was really, really nice of Ruben to risk getting another detention to help me out...and to take the rap for sneaking into the teacher's lounge! I'm so glad he didn't have to go to the principal's office after all.'_

"Ruben," Rockett said quietly as they continued down the hall. "I just wanted to say 'thanks'. I mean, for everything."

Ruben smiled. "Hey, it's no problem, _chica_. The pleasure was all mine,"

"Yeah, but you almost got sent to the office," Rockett pointed out.

"Almost?" Ruben replied. "No way. You came in and saved the day with that one," he said with a wink. "By the way, thanks for clearing everything up with Mrs. Herrera for me."

Rockett grinned. "Hey, don't mention it."

"Well...you're cool in my book, new girl," Ruben said. "Thanks a million for helpin' me out."

_'Wow...Ruben's actually being pretty cool. I feel bad about being so unfriendly to him. I mean, he may have acted immature and everything earlier, but right now, he's totally great...and totally cu-'_

"What up, Rockett? Hey, Rosales!" a friendly voice called out all of a sudden as the two walked down the halls.

Rockett felt her stomach flip. It was _Cleve_!

"Oh, uh..." Rockett said quietly, feeling the immediate loss of her voice. She carefully lifted her hand to her left cheek. Hopefully it wasn't as red as her hair color! "Hi, Cleve."

Ruben nodded. "'Sup, Cleveland? How'd your class go, man?"

"Long," Cleve replied. "Too long. I'm just ready to get out these doors and get on with the day already. Maybe hit the gym or somethin'."

Suddenly, Rockett got her voice back. "Wait, you mean class - I mean, school - is out?"

Cleve nodded. "Nothin' gets by you, does it Rockett?" he teased. "But yeah, we'll be outta here in just a sec. I gotta run by my locker real quick and get a couple of my cds out before they get left here for good. So, I'll see you guys later!"

Rockett started to panic. School was out, and time had _run_ out. She'd missed her opportunity to slip Dana's diary back in her locker. As soon as Cleve left, Rockett turned down the hall herself. "I've gotta run!" she called behind her to Ruben.

On her way to the lockers, Rockett ran into Jessie. "Oh, hey there, Rockett! Is everything okay?" Jessie asked her.

"Just fine, thanks," Rockett blurted. "But I really gotta get to Dana's locker!"

"Dana's locker? How come?"

"I...uh...well, doesn't matter, it's nothing," Rockett said quickly, dodging past her. "I really gotta go!"

"Rockett, wait!" Jessie hollered, now following closely behind.

"Look, I can't! I really have to make it in time! I'm already late!"

"Why can't you just tell me what's going on?"

_'She is so not going to leave me alone until she's hears what's really going down,' _Rockett realized.

"Alright! I have something that belongs to Dana, and _no_, before you ask, I didn't steal it. But she needs it back asap, and I really have to get it to her, otherwise she'll totally hate me even more than she already does."

Jessie blinked. "Hate you? But, Dana could never hate you - you're her idol, it seems. She's always talking about you, and she thinks you're like, the coolest girl in the school or something."

Rockett rolled her eyes. "Pfft. Yeah right. Like I'm supposed to believe _that_."

"Well, it's true," Jessie continued, now walking alongside of her. "But listen, I was wondering if you wanted to like, hang out or something, like maybe after school tomorrow? My mom said I could have a friend over this week, and I won't be able to next weekend because I'll be at my dad's."

"Uhhh..." said Rockett. She hadn't really been paying attention. That fact of the matter was, she was just too focused in on trying to get back to Dana's in time.

"Well, maybe," Rockett said finally. "I mean, thanks and everything, but wouldn't you rather have that other Darnetta girl over instead?"

"...Not really," Jessie said, much to Rockett's surprise. "I mean, she's okay. Lately though, she hasn't been a really good friend to me. I'm starting to wonder if I really have any of those at all."

"...Uh-huh. Well, I gotta go, so see you later, maybe," Rockett hollered over her shoulder as she darted off.

She just couldn't stick around. Classes were out, and Rockett had much more important things to do.


	7. Priorities

Chapter 7: Priorities

When she'd finally lost Jessie and _finally_ made it to her destination, Rockett cringed.

Dana was standing at her locker, next to Miko and Nakili.

"Where's my diary?" Dana frowned, sticking her head inside of her locker and moving things around. "I totally had it like, this afternoon."

Rockett quickly hid behind another row of lockers, nearby the CSGs.

Miko tapped her foot impatiently. "See, Dana? This is why I don't think you should ever be in charge of keeping the Private Report Book. You always lose everything!"

"I didn't _lose_ anything," Dana growled. "Somebody obviously moved it."

"Somebody like...?"

"Rachel. Wicked stepsister number two. I totally can't stand her! If I find out she's the one who did this, I am going to make her life so miserable," Dana complained, now sitting on the floor and going through her backpack.

"Whoa, chill, girl!" Nakili replied, ever-the-peacemaker. "No need to jump to conclusions now, ya hear? Besides, there's no reason to blame Rachel."

"Yeah, there is!" Dana exclaimed. "Ugh, she's always taking everything."

_'Yikes! If she's this upset thinking her sister took her diary, then what is she going to think when she finds out I'm the one who did it?' _Rockett wondered.

"Next time," Miko advised. "Just let me keep your diary in _my_ locker. I'm totally organized, and I swear I won't read it."

"Yeah, right. No offense or anything, Miko, but sometimes I just need to let my anger out. And _that's_ what my diary's for," Dana replied.

"What are you saying?" Miko asked slowly. "Do you write bad stuff about me in your diary half the time or something?"

"Guys..." Nakili said, trying to keep things from getting out of control.

"No, but it _is_ okay for me to keep certain things private, isn't it?" Dana retorted.

"Maybe, if we weren't best friends _AND_ fellow CSG sisters!" Miko exclaimed. "I can't believe you, Dana! What sort of stuff are you hiding from me-"

"Um, hey guys," Rockett said sheepishly, as she approached them.

Dana's face immediately lit up. "Ohh, hi there, Rockett! What's up?"

_'This is just too weird.'_

Rockett was completely baffled. Once again, Dana was in an overly-nice mood...around her. And for some strange reason, Miko and Nakili, who had always been nice to her, seemed more than a little bit stand-off-ish. It was like the girls had completely switched personalities.

"Uh, hi, Rockett," Miko said, without even a trace of a smile.

"Yeah, hi," Nakili replied, in the exact same tone as Miko.

Rockett decided to ignore the obvious, less-than-enthusiastic greetings from the two girls. The CSGs were already arguing, and she definitely didn't want to get involved. And besides, technically, it _was_ her fault for starting the argument. Taking a deep breath, Rockett prepared to come clean with Dana.

"I don't really know how to say this, but uh...here," Rockett said, handing Dana her diary back.

"_You_ took Dana's diary?" Nakili asked.

"I knew it!" Miko added.

Rockett held her breath, waiting for Dana to say something. She knew that whatever it was, it wouldn't be good. On the contrary, it would be completely awful. Rockett wasn't afraid of Dana by any means, but she did wonder how Dana would react.

It wasn't anything how she'd expected.

"Rockett! You found my diary! Oh, thank you so much!" Dana exclaimed, giving Rockett a big hug.

"Uhhh, you're welcome, of course," Rockett said. "But, listen. There's something you should know. I didn't find it, we...I...sort of took it, Dana. See, Sharla had it in the first place, but then she wouldn't give it back and then..." Rockett sighed. "It's a really long story. But, it's my fault. And I totally understand if you're really mad at me, 'cause I would be too, if it were somebody else taking my diary..."

_"Well, I did it. I 'fessed up. Now I get to stand here and watch Dana do her vicious, angry mongoose-act. Great.'_

"Wow..." Dana said, after a while. "Rockett, I really respect you. I mean, coming over here giving me my diary back after all of this? Most people would have kept it. You really are a totally great person. Thanks so much for returning this to me."

For the hundredth time that day, Rockett was confused. "You mean, you're not mad at me?"

"No way! How could I be mad at the coolest girl in school? That would be like, ridiculous," Dana replied.

"Okay, seriously, what's going on with that?" Rockett asked. "I've been meaning to ask you, but it's like, the entire day you've just been so nice to me. Were you planning something?"

"Planning something like what Rockett?" Dana inquired.

Rockett shrugged. "I don't know, it's just normally you're like...you know, not my biggest fan."

Nakili and Miko laughed. "Puh_-lease_!"

"She's like, _always_ talking about you," Miko said.

"Yeah! And _she's_ the one who voted you into the CSGs," Nakili added, rolling her eyes.

"Which, by the way, there's only enough room for three," Miko quickly clarified.

Rockett frowned. "Okay, another question," she said. "How come the two of you have been acting so strange?"

"What are you talking about, Rockett?" Miko asked disdainfully.

"Um, well you two haven't exactly been very nice to me," Rockett pointed out.

"So, whatever," Nakili replied. "We just happen to think that the CSGs are perfect the way they are."

"Yeah, and just because Dana thinks that you should join, doesn't mean that _we_ are exactly okay with it," Miko added.

"I never said anything about joining today at all!" Rockett said. "I just wanted to know why you guys were acting so weird."

"We're not, okay?" Miko said, brushing past her. "C'mon, Dana. C'mon, Nakili. Let's go get some food or something. I totally hungry."

"Sounds good to me," Nakili sang as the two girls flounced off.

"You coming, Dana?" Miko asked when she realized that their last member hadn't followed.

"Uh, yeah, I'm coming," Dana said to them. "Listen, Rockett. I'm really sorry about all this. I know my friends can be totally dramatic sometimes." She rolled her eyes. "...But, I still wish you could join the CSGs. I'll keep talking to them and see if they want to maybe let you join the group sometime soon. I gotta go. I'll see you later! And thanks for bringing me back my diary!"

"Wait!" Rockett yelled after them. "But, they're the ones that should be convincing _you_!"

She sighed when she realized that the girls couldn't hear her anymore. They were completely out of earshot.

Rockett leaned back against a locker. _'What a total waste that was. But at least I found out that Dana's not the one who hates me...that is, anymore. Gosh, I must be totally losing it or something.'_

Rockett sighed again and slowly sank down onto the floor.

"Bad day?"

Rockett looked up. It was Ruben.

"Oh, hey," she said.

"What's going on?" Ruben asked, sitting down next to her. "Earlier when I saw you, you were all smiles."

"It's just been a rough day."

"I heard _that_. Well, anything I can do to help?"

Rockett thought for a moment.

_'Yeah. You can kidnap Arnold Zeitbaum, get him to build you a time machine, bring it to me, let me get inside, and see if I can rewind this totally ridiculous day to see why and how it became so awful! Then I could restart everything , re-do everything and hopefully get some answers...not to mention a totally different outcome for today. Oh yeah, and while you're at it, maybe see why everyone's acting so totally whacko.'_

"Nothing," Rockett replied, looking back down again. "Thanks, though."

"Well, listen. Whatever happened, I'm sure it could have been a lot worse," Ruben pointed out.

Rockett sighed. "I guess..."

"Hey, I mean it," Ruben replied. "I mean, take the whole thing that went down in the teacher's lounge earlier. We totally got off the hook."

Rockett nodded slowly.

"And, Mrs. H didn't give either one of us detention," Ruben continued. "Now, I know you're not there very often, but let me tell ya, getting off with a warning and not having to do detention is a _big _deal. Especially with Baldus running that job. It's totally whack, man."

Rockett smiled a little as she thought of Mr. Baldus, and how he'd had that ridiculous theory about the Whistling Pines Ghost - right in front of his boss, no less. She laughed, "He _is_ pretty goofy."

Ruben grinned. "There's the smile."

"Yeah," Rockett said, still grinning herself. "...Well, thanks Ruben. Not just for cheering me up, but also for helping me out earlier. Like, in the teacher's lounge."

"_No problema_, new girl," Ruben replied. "So...I'm a curious type of guy. How did things work out with that whole secret thing earlier?"

It took Rockett a little longer than usual to reply. She was still so confused. After everything that happened with Miko, Dana and Nakili, she couldn't help but feel even more perplexed than she did to begin with.

Rockett smiled and shook her head. It was definitely too much for her to explain, especially since she still didn't know what had really went on all day. "Really long, really confusing story," she replied. "But, I mean, if you really wanna know..."

"Nah, that's okay," Ruben said. "I'm not a huge fan of long stories. Especially not confusing ones," he added with a wink.

"Okay, good," Rockett said, letting out a short sigh of relief. "Because I'm pretty sure if I repeated this whole mess back to you, I'd end up even more confused myself."

Not that she wasn't already confused. Between running late to homeroom, getting mixed-up with Sharla, getting stuck in the boys' bathroom, nearly getting sent to the office, plus all of the drama in between, it had been a long day.

"No need for the confusion, Rockett," Ruben said. "And listen, don't worry about today. Trust me. It's been a hard day on all of us...although the whole escaping-Mrs. Herrera-thing was kind of fun, if you know what I'm sayin'," he added with a mischevious grin.

Rockett smiled back. Maybe the day wasn't _that _bad. Even if it was, Ruben had a way of making light of things. Which definitely made things feel a _whole_ lot better.

All of a sudden, from out of nowhere, it hit her. After all of the day's stress, Rockett had no idea how she'd remembered it, but she did.

It was the initials from the door back in the boy's room. She hadn't realized up to this point that "R.R" stood for Ruben Rosales...which meant her secret admirer wasn't so secret anymore.

It was quiet for a moment. And even though she wasn't talking, Ruben still held Rockett's gaze. "Listen," he replied suddenly. "Maybe later this weekend...I've sorda been wondering, you know, if you might wanna..."

"Yes?" Rockett asked, more than a little surprised at the sudden giddiness she was feeling.

_'Am I really getting butterflies around this guy?'_

"Well, I was thinking that maybe you and I could-"

_Beep-beep!_

"What is that? Like, your crazy-loud remote thingy again?" Rockett giggled.

Ruben shook his head. "Not this time, _chica_." He pointed to Rockett's backpack.

Rockett quickly pulled her GMG out. "Hopefully it's about my ride," she said, remembering that her dad was supposed to pick her up from the Birdcage soon. She clicked on the voice message.

But right when she clicked on the message, and heard the voice that was playing from it, Rockett realized that it was definitely a mistake. A huge mistake.

_"Hey there, Rockett. This is the Cleve-meister. Anyway, a few of us are getting together after school to go chill at the mall. Let me know if you decide to come. Later!"_

"Uhh," Rockett said, glancing up from her device. Ruben's face fell.

"That was Cleve..." she said weakly.

_'Why does Cleve have to invite me to the mall right now? I would totally love to go, but what about Ruben? Should I stick around here and blow off the only opportunity I may ever get to kick it with Cleve and his friends?'_

Without giving herself time to think, Rockett stood up. "I better go and meet them," she said quietly. "They're probably already at the mall by now...uh, so I'll talk to you later, then?"

Ruben hung his head. "...Sure."

Rockett gathered up her things and turned to go. "Oh, wait," she said suddenly, turning back around to face Ruben. "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Nothing. Forget it," Ruben said, making his way back down the hallway. "Have a nice time at the mall."


	8. One Of The Ones

Chapter 8: One Of The _Ones_

"Hey, R-girl! Glad you could make it," Chaz Franklin greeted Rockett, as she approached the group at the food court of the mall.

She knew she couldn't let an opportunity like _this_ slide. It was basically like she was queen for the day. She was finally invited to join in to hang out with The One's...not to mention her crush! Ruben would understand; he had to. This was just way too big to miss out on.

"Hey, guys," Rockett said self-consciously as she made her way to the group. She decided to take a seat next to Whitney Weiss. Even though Whitney was a One, she wasn't always as mean-spirited as the other girls in the clique. Of course, Rockett would have loved to sit down next to Cleve, but her nerves were definitely not having _that_ today.

Nicole rolled her eyes at the sight of Rockett. "Chaz," she said loudly. "I know you're into making people feel..._special_ and all, but you really need to think about what the word _'status' _means." Nicole glanced down, taking an annoyed slurp of soda. "That, and what the word means to _you_," she added disdainfully.

Rockett gulped. She should have known Nicole would try to make her feel uncomfortable.

Chaz shook his head. "Chill out, Nic. Rockett here's a good friend of mine. And any friend of mine, should be a friend of yours, you know what I'm sayin'? I thought we were tight like that."

Nicole rolled her eyes, but for once, she had nothing to say in her defense. "Whatever, can we just like, go shopping already? We've been sitting in this food court for like, _forever_,you know."

_'Geez, Nicole's a tough crowd. I haven't even said anything to her, and already she's against me again. Maybe this wasn't such a good choice..."_

Cleve nodded at Nicole. "I'm ready. Hey Max," he called out to his friend. "When you gonna see if your old man can help fund a guy's spending spree? I sure could use a new cell model...and a new little black book," he said with a wink.

Max Diamond smirked. "You sure could. That thing's so old, you might as well toss it out. Check it," Max said, pulling out his newest cell phone and sliding it across the table.

"Ooh!" Whitney squealed. "_Tres chic_. Maxie, how soon do you think you could get _moi_ one for Christmas?"

"Not any sooner than Reginald and Celeste get _me_ one," Nicole replied, tossing back her hair. "It's the latest craze, you know. Now, the only thing for me to decide is whether I should get one in black or silver...ohh, never mind," Nicole replied with a big smile. "I'll just get_ both_..."

Rockett tried to cover her yawn. She had no idea that hanging out with the popular kids was going to be _this_ lame. Since she had nothing shallow to say herself, Rockett let her eyes wander as Nicole and the gang continued to babble.

Suddenly, Rockett spotted Sharla Norvell. Just as she'd looked her way, Sharla noticed her and came walking up toward the table. Rockett cringed.

_'No way. Not now! If Sharla comes over here right now, it'll totally wreck everything!'_

"Well, well, well. If it isn't queen of the banshees," Sharla replied, glancing at Nicole. "Movado, what are you doing here hanging out with _these_ snobs?"

Nicole shot Sharla her nastiest death glare. "_Excuse me_, Sharla? I'm sorry, did we_ invite _you over here to come and bother us?"

Sharla ignored her. "Sheez, Rockett. Who knew that _this_ is what you did with your free time."

_'She's right. This is a total waste of time! But, she is kind of getting into it with Nicole...I'd better say something before this gets any worse.'_

"Sharla, just go already! Can't you see this is a closed-group kind of thing?" Rockett blurted.

Nicole cackled. "Good one, Rockett! Like I always say, you definitely know how to learn from the best." Nicole gave Sharla a smug grin. "Now, now. Move along Sharla. _Nobody_ wants you here."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Chaz said firmly, as he rose from his seat at the table. "Nicole, can it for a minute. Sharla, you can chill with us...if you'd like to."

"No thanks," Sharla muttered, swiping at her face. She quickly departed before any of the kids sitting at the table could get a good look at her. Rockett guessed she was on the verge of tears. Maybe the girl was more sensitive than she looked.

"Awww," Nicole sarcastically cooed. "Poor thing. Will she ever fit in anywhere?" she asked to no one in particular.

Chaz frowned. "Nic, that was _not_ very cool. Sharla and I...well, we've gotten to know each other pretty well. And she's a good person-"

"Yeah," Whitney smirked. "Hmm, let's see. She always ditches class and she _lives_ in detention. She's _such_ a good person. We can tell."

"I'm serious, Whitney! She does a lot more for this school than you'd expect. So just leave her be," Chaz said defensively.

"Oooooh!" Whitney teased. "Does Chazzy-boy have a little_ crush _on a little social outcast?"

"Gee," Nicole said, turning around to look Chaz in the eye. "I wonder."

Chaz shook his head. "It's not like that. We've just both sorda got this little..._project _that we've been workin' on. But never mind all of that. The point is, she doesn't need to be treated like that. If there's one thing I've learned from joining the AALoT, it's that every human being...well, they got rights, you know?"

"So touching," Whitney yawned.

"Totally touching," Cleve said dryly. "Now let's go, already. Max, you got your dad's credit card?"

Max waved his platinum card in the air triumphantly. "Let's go!"

Thirty-five stores later, Rockett was still holding out. She hadn't really said much to Cleve so far, even though she definitely had plenty of time to do so. When the One's went shopping, they meant business. Usually, when Rockett took a trip to the mall, it was because she was returning something...or maybe buying an outfit for a special occasion. Often, she'd even go with a friend. More often, she wouldn't even buy anything. To Rockett, the mall was the perfect hang-out; It wasn't a place to completely empty her pockets.

"So, Rockett," Nicole said as she shifted her shopping bags to her right arm. "I was thinking that maybe...and I do mean _maybe_, well, you could have what it takes."

"What do you mean?" Rockett asked her.

"You know what I mean...to be, you know, one of us," Nicole replied casually.

_'Ohmigosh! Is Nicole serious? She is the last person in her clique who I'd expect to say something like that to me. Well, second to Stephanie, of course.'_

"You really mean that?" Rockett asked, expecting Nicole to burst out laughing and tell her that it was a joke.

But Nicole didn't look like she was kidding. She actually looked sort of...serious. Which definitely got Rockett excited. Now she knew that coming to the mall was a good idea after all.

"Wow, Nicole! I mean, I don't know what to say-" Rockett started.

Nicole held up her hand. "Not so fast, Rockett Movado. We have rules around here. Not just anyone can get in with us you know. This is a highly-elite organization."

_'So I've heard practically since my first day at Whistling Pines.'_

"...And when it comes to actually _joining_ highly-elite organizations..." Nicole continued.

Rockett sighed. "I know, I know. You have to do like, initiations or something."

"Call it what you want," Nicole said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "But, it has to be that way. It's so much _better_ that way. I mean, if it wasn't, the Ones wouldn't be '_The Ones'_. It'd be like...the entire school. Which, isn't so cool, if you know what I mean," Nicole added.

"I guess."

"Anyway," Nicole said slowly. "If you do want this chance-of-a-lifetime, it's almost yours for the taking, Rockett."

Rockett glanced up. "What do you mean, Nicole?"

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not like I'm just going to flat-out hand it to you. But, I know about you, Rockett. You've stirred the curiosity of, well, practically everyone since you came to our little school. And the way you got Sharla-Rae-Horrible away from us so quickly? Now, that's what I call _chutzpah_."

_'Okay, things are looking good here. Nicole must mean business. I mean, let's face it. How many other people have gotten the chance to enter WP's most popular clique? Even the kids who have been here much longer than I have haven't even gotten the chance. This is a definite gold mine!'_

"Okay," Rockett said carefully. "I'm in."

Nicole flashed Rockett a huge smile. "I just knew you'd say that."

_'Alright! I'm in with the in-crowd. Almost.'_


	9. Initiations

Chapter 9: Initiations

"So, Rockett," Nicole said as they continued down the mall. "Obviously, you already passed your first assignment...getting past the losers."

Rockett bit her lip. If telling Sharla off was Phase 1, then what did Nicole have planned next?

"So next I've got a little errand for you."

Rockett gulped. "Okay?"

"I need you to run down to the place next to the pet shop."

"Um, alright. What's it called?"

Nicole froze. "...The Place Next To The Pet Shop."

Rockett blinked in confusion. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I am, Rockett. It's brand new! They couldn't come up with a good enough name, so they just decided to name it for what it was. And besides, now people know exactly where to find it, which has to be great for business. Pretty ingenius of them, don't you think?"

"Sure. It's okay," said Rockett. "So, what do you need?"

Nicole pulled a list out of her fuzzy purse. "Just about everything on here," she said, handing the list to Rockett. "Think you can handle that?"

"Uh-"

"Great, thanks! We'll be in the shop next to the nail salon when you're done," Nicole replied with a wave. "Later!"

"Ooof!" Rockett grunted as she tried to carry all of her shopping bags. Granted, they weren't really _her_ shopping bags - they were Nicole's. Somehow, Rockett had managed to get almost everything on Nicole's list. Now the only difficult part was finding the shop next to the nail salon.

_'Unless it's actually called "The Shop Next To The Nail Salon,'" _Rockett thought.

Suddenly, Rockett's arms gave out, and all of Nicole's things went crashing to the ground. "Oh, no!" Rockett gasped, quickly putting everything back inside the bags. She wandered over to a nearby bench and set everything down.

Just as she'd sat down, Nicole, Stephanie and Whitney appeared out of a nearby store. "Oh, there you are, Rockett," said Nicole. "I thought we'd agreed to meet over by-"

"That shop next to the nail salon?" Rockett guessed. "I honestly couldn't find it."

Nicole and Stephanie exchanged glances. "...Well," Nicole said slowly. "Knowing which stores are which is really important when becoming a One. How else are we supposed to know where to meet each other?"

"You could meet in the food court?" Rockett suggested.

"Duh," Nicole replied. "That's like, our number _One_ place to meet. But, that's only when we're with the guys. After that, we go our seperate ways and go shopping."

"Wait, you mean, they already left the mall?" Rockett asked.

Nicole scoffed. "Of course not, silly. They're at the music store."

"Yeah," Stephanie replied. "Waiting for _us_."

"Well, should we go and meet them?" Rockett asked, a bit too eagerly. She'd originally come to the mall because Cleve had invited her.

"Not until you complete your next task, Rockett," Nicole replied. "But first, I need my things."

Rockett nodded and handed Nicole her shopping bags.

Nicole grimaced. "Um, Rockett? Is there a reason my perfect sweater is so..."

"_Imperfect," _Stephanie Hollis interjected.

"Thank you, Stephanie," Nicole replied. She turned back to Rockett. "I _don't_ buy defective merchandise."

"Yeah," Stephanie smirked. "What clearance rack did you get_ these _from?"

Rockett turned red. "Oh, uh. Well, you said you wanted to buy a sweater, right?"

"Not just any sweater," Nicole groaned impatiently. "But, whatever. I guess this one will have to do. It's time for your next assignment, anyway."

_'Oh, boy.'_

Nicole handed Rockett her shopping bags.

"You don't want these?" Rockett asked.

Nicole scoffed. "Duh. Of course I want them. I just need you to carry them, on our way to your next task, that's all."

_'She's got to be kidding me.'_

Rockett hesitated.

"You do want to be a _One_, don't you?" Nicole glared.

"Um, yeah, but-"

"So, just carry these while we go to your next assignment. Okay?" Nicole asked, somewhat-sweetly.

"Uh, okay. Sure."

_'I want this. Bad! But, geez, way to be a pushover...oh, well. I'll have my One's position in no time, I'm sure of it. Just a couple more initiations left...'_

"So, Rockett," Nicole replied. "You've gotten to know a lot of kids around here. Like, those Creepy Sagittarius Girls, right?"

"It's actually, _Cool_ Sagittarius Girls," Rockett responded.

_'Don't tell me I just totally gave away the CSG's most private secret...the real name of the clique! Man, if Miko and Nakili were mad at me earlier, just wait until Nicole tells them what I told her.' _

"But lately, they haven't been so nice to me. Well, I mean, Dana has, but that's practically it. Anyway, promise me you won't tell them that I told you what 'CSG' really stands for?" Rockett begged.

Nicole smiled slowly. "I can't promise anything."

Rockett's eyes widened. "Nicole, you can't! Please! It's like, their deepest darkest secret. I don't know why, but it's like, a really big deal to them or something. So please don't tell them that I told you."

"...Alright, Rockett. I won't tell them. That is, if you can pass your next test," Nicole replied, nodding towards three girls who'd just walked into the front entrance of the mall.

Rockett's eyes got even wider.

Miko, Dana, and Nakili had just walked into the mall.

"No way," Rockett said. "Nu-uh. I'm not going to do that."

"Come on, Rockett," Nicole replied. "I know you've gotten it before. I just need you to..._borrow_ it for us this time."

Rockett crossed her arms.

_'There is absolutely no way! I mean, is Nicole totally out of her mind, or what? Like, I'm really gonna go steal the CSG's Private Report Book back again and give it to Nicole so she can read it for her own sick amusement. No. No way, no how.'_

Nicole rolled her eyes. "I guess _somebody_ doesn't want to improve her social status."

"At all," Stephanie chimed in with a nasty glare.

"Look," Rockett replied. "I've already done a lot of stuff so far-"

"_One_ thing," Nicole corrected. "And believe me, carrying shopping bags is not all that it requires."

"Forget it, Nicole. I can't take it from them. It's too personal. Why do you even need it, anyway?"

Nicole sighed impatiently. "That's none of your business, Rockett. Just go get it."

"No!"

"Fine...then I guess I'll just have to tell _Cleve_ that you've been crushing on him...bad!" Nicole said, grinning.

Rockett went red. "Wh-what are you talking about, Nicole? I mean, that's not even true-"

"Of _course_ it is, Rockett," Nicole interrupted. "I won't say who my sources are. But, let's just say, if you get that book back, I might tell you...I might even keep that little secret away from Cleve, too."

Rockett winced. "Uhhhh..."

"Clock's tick-ing," Nicole sang.

"...Alright. I'll do it."

Nicole grinned wickedly. "Excellent! So, here's what we need you to do, Rockett," she said as the girls got closer to the CSGs. "Just, use your charm. Get them to give it to you somehow."

"I doubt they carry that thing with them to the mall, Nicole," Rockett replied.

Nicole gestured toward the large book that Nakili carried in hand. "It looks like they do," she said, nodding. "Now, get to work, Movado! Those girls owe Stephanie and I big-time!"

Rockett frowned. "For what?"

"Like, I said, if you do it, then maybe I'll tell you. But for now, just let me say that what those girls did to us was_ really _awful," Nicole replied.

Rockett shook her head. "You know what, Nicole? I'm not doing this. Those girls, well, Miko and Nakili anyway, at one point, used to be my friends. I can't do that to them."

Nicole shrugged. "Fine. Then you also can't be a part of our little group, Rockett. See you later," she said before prancing off. Rockett rolled her eyes.

_'Yikes, that didn't go very good. Maybe I can go say 'hi' to Miko and Nakili now that Nicole and her gang are gone.'_

Rockett approached the CSGs.

Dana was the first of them to notice Rockett. "Hey!" she exclaimed with a big wave. Nakili and Miko rolled their eyes.

Even though it had been going on all day, Rockett was still just as confused as she was earlier. Once again, Dana was all smiles when she saw Rockett. And Miko and Nakili were anything but. They looked totally annoyed just about every time they saw her.

"What's up, Rockett?" Dana smiled.

"Yeah," Miko replied dryly. "What are you doing here?"

Rockett tried to ignore Miko, but it definitely wasn't easy. She was just so used to the girl always being so nice to her. Now, it was like, the complete opposite.

"Uhh, just shopping..." Rockett lied.

"With Nicole?" Nakili asked.

Rockett was caught off guard. "W-why? Did you like, see her here or something?"

"Yeah, with Stephanie and Whitney, too. Why don't you just go join their clique and leave us alone?" Miko snapped.

"C'mon, Dana," Nakili said. "Let's go get the stuff we need for our CSG sleepover. Later, Rockett."

Dana waited until Miko and Nakili were out of earshot. "Sorry about my friends...again. They just, don't understand how cool you are. They can be pretty weird."

_'Pretty weird? Okay, that's the biggest understatement I've heard all day. I'm not sure how much longer I can take all this. Everybody's gone mad!'_

Suddenly, an idea instantly popped into Rockett's brain. Stealing Dana's diary earlier had been a major flop. And it hadn't at all helped out. Rockett still didn't know why Dana was suddenly so excited to be friends with her...while the other two CSGs had completely changed their minds about her. She knew for a fact that the CSGs kept all of their most private information _in_ their Private Report Book. So if she could get her hands on the book through Dana, she might be able to find out why the girls were so angry with her.

"Uh, yeah.." Rockett said. "Anyway, what's that you've got there?" she asked, pointing at Dana's book.

"Shhh," Dana replied. "That's our Private Report Book. We brought it with us to the mall because we need to get a another one for our CSG sleepover. We've used up all the pages, but we need to find one that's just as big, 'cause well, it's like I said. We're gonna have to start a new one pretty soon."

"Really?" Rockett asked. "Well, hey, I can totally carry it for you while you guys go and look for one."

"Sorry, Rockett," Dana said sadly. "CSG rule. No one but a CSG can handle the Private Report Book."

"Well..." Rockett said slowly. "Technically, it's not the Private Report Book anymore. I mean, you guys are going to get a new one, right?"

Dana tilted her head, thinking. "...Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, okay Rockett. You hang on to this while I head back with the girls and go shopping. I can trust you not to read it. And hey, whatever you do, don't let Nakili or Miko catch you holding it. They'll kill me. And possibly kick me out of the CSGs, you know. Just be super careful with it, alright?"

"Uh..sure, okay..." Rockett said hesitantly as she watched Dana depart. She glanced down at the book. Finally, she'd gotten it: The answers as to why everyone was acting so strangely today. Well, maybe not everyone, but at least three girls. Still, it would take some nerve to actually open the book. Dana St. Clair had finally trusted her with something - something big. Opening up the book was a tough decision. Even tougher than when she had _first_ gotten the Private Report Book on her first day of school.

She'd needed to make a decision once again. But, this time, the decision would be whether or not she still wanted to remain civil with Dana. Rockett winced, still contemplating. Did she want to find out why Nakili and Miko were so angry with her, and lose having Dana on her side? Or did she want to just keep things the way they were, the new "normal." Namely, Dana being the only CSG who actually liked her and Miko and Nakili being the ones who _didn't_ want her to join their entourage.

Rockett opened up the book.

But before she could read a thing, somebody had instantly snatched it away from her.

"Well done, Rockett Movado," Nicole sang cheerily. "Maybe you're not so bad after all. Who knows, maybe I'll let all that "no way" talk slide and let you join up with us. It all depends on how generous I'm feeling today."

"Nicole! Give it back!"

Nicole smiled smugly and shook her head. "Can't. But, listen, you just leave this with me. In the meantime, Cleve wants to meet you over by the fountain. Think you can handle that?"

Rockett gulped. "Really? Cleve? Like, Cleve Goodstaff?"

"Who else?" Nicole smirked.

"Wait, why does he want to meet me?" Rockett inquired.

Nicole smiled. "Oh, I don't know. To talk to you, I guess. Something he wanted to ask you, I think? You might want to go and talk to him yourself if you want to find out for sure though," Nicole replied as she started to walk off again. "Better hurry it up, Rockett. That boy does _not_ like to wait, you know."


	10. Dream On!

Chapter 10: Dream On!

Rockett let out a deep breath. This was it! She had done it all. She'd blown off the almost-heart-to-heart with Ruben, made it to the food court in time, and completed initiation...well, _almost_. But none of that really mattered right now. What mattered now was that Rockett was finally getting her chance to hang out with Cleve - that is, without any of the other Ones around to interrupt. She was definitely nervous, but also excited. She carefully made her way over to the fountain.

"Uh, hey, Cleve," Rockett said with a nervous grin. She swallowed, trying hard not to let her nerves show all over her face. "What's up?"

"Hey, Rockett," Cleve nodded. "I need to talk to you."

Rockett's heart skipped a beat. "Sure," she said shyly. "What's it about?"

"Ah," Cleve replied. "The game of love. So, listen, I thought I'd ask an expert. You've got an older sister, right?"

"Uh-huh," Rockett nodded.

"...Who's in highschool, right?"

Rockett nodded again.

"Anyway," Cleve blushed. "I was thinking that since you have a sister who's in highschool, that you'd know how highschool girls act when they, you know, like somebody?"

"Maybe," Rockett said, blushing herself. She wondered where Cleve was going with all of this.

"...'Cause there's this girl, Cindy. And she's pretty cute stuff, if you know what I mean. And I was wondering if she was into me, but I'm not totally sure how to tell or not."

"...Oh." Rockett's heart sank. From the corner of her eye, she could see Nicole at the opposite end of the food court, giving her a wicked grin. Clearly, Nicole already knew what Cleve was going to talk to her about in the first place.

_'This must be some kind of punishment for not getting the CSG's Private Report Book. If there's anybody out there who's worse than Nicole, I'll be shocked.'_

"Anyway, Cleve," Rockett said, trying to disguise the hurt in her voice. "I really wouldn't know much about that stuff, so maybe I'm not like, the best person to ask. Sorry."

"Really," Cleve said dryly. "Well, thanks anyway. And listen, let's just keep this between you and me, alright?"

"That you like a girl in high school?"

"No. That I couldn't really tell if she liked me or not. Max would go ballistic if he found out that I can't interpret girls. He's always ragging on me anyway, because he thinks he knows everything. Like, just because the little jerk's got sisters. Whatever."

Suddenly, an angry voice interrupted their conversation. Rockett wished the voice belonged to Nicole, because that would have been a thousand times better. But it didn't.

"Rockett!" Miko screamed across the food court.

"Well, I see _you've_ got company," Cleve laughed as he pointed to Miko.

Rockett nodded, now fully aware that tears were welling up in her eyes. Before Cleve could have a chance to see them, she ran. She ran and ran until finally, she was sure that none of the Ones (or Miko), would be around to see her cry.

Rockett sighed and wiped at her face as she sat down on a nearby bench. This had been the worst day! She glanced down as she held her head in her hands. Not only had Nicole set her up by pretending to her that Cleve was interested, but she'd also clearly said something to Miko. At the moment, Rockett couldn't decide which was the cherry on top of her rotten ice cream sundae: Getting humiliated in front of Cleve or Miko's rage. She didn't even want to confront the girl now and tell her what had _really_ went on; Miko wouldn't understand. At this point, Rockett thought, nobody would.

A second later, it all came back to her the reason why she was even hiding out on that bench in the first place. Rockett wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but it sounded like Whitney Weiss' voice was just around the corner...which meant Nicole wasn't far behind.

Rockett jolted up from the bench and started running again. Just as she was headed for the mall exit, a friendly, familiar face came into view - Ruben!

"Whoa! Watch out!" he called, trying to get to Rockett before it was too late.

Unfortunately, Rockett hadn't noticed the 'CAUTION: WET FLOOR' sign until she had already started slipping. She flailed her arms wildly, trying to balance herself as she continued to fall. Rockett hadn't made it to the ground yet, but she knew that when she did, it would definitely be painful.

Ruben started running himself, despite the wet floor. He was just inches away from Rockett, who still hadn't made contact with the ground...yet. He reached out just as Rockett came tumbling down and -

"Ow," Rockett moaned, rubbing her head.

She blinked. Ruben was right next to her. "That was some fall, _chica_! You okay?" he asked.

It took Rockett a while to answer. After all, where could she start? What could she say? To answer Ruben's question, in one word, she would have just said '_no'_. Or in two,_ 'absolutely not'_. But there was way too much bothering her for her to make it that short.

"Oh, Ruben," she blurted. "I messed up things with Sharla, like, so bad! I was so completely awful to her and I just acted so selfish! And then with the CSGs I almost completely got involved again just so I could pass initiation, and, by the way, I'm really sorry about ditching you to go to the mall with-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Ruben interrupted. "Back up. Un-confuse me, girl. When did all _this_ happen?"

"Earlier today, when-" Rockett suddenly stopped as she looked around. Talk about total change of scenary! The wet floor, the sign, the stores, the mall, all of that had completely vanished before her eyes. She opened them wider to get a better look. They were back in the park. With Arrow and Wolf. "...Ohh," Rockett replied, a smile slowly spreading across her face.

_'Yes! Finally everything's clear again!'_

"What?" Ruben asked.

"I just," Rockett started. "I just had this totally weird dream."

"In the middle of the park?" Wolf asked.

"Yeah," Rockett laughed. "I mean, I think so. Did I get like, knocked out or something?"

"Yeah, but only for a few minutes," Wolf replied. "When you nearly crashed into that big tree."

"Wow, really?" Rockett said. "It felt like hours..."

"Nah, just for a few minutes," Ruben repeated. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Rockett grinned.

"Good," replied Ruben. "And hey, what's with this major-_loco_ dream you were having?"

Rockett shook her head. "It was just too weird. I mean, at the beginning of my dream, things were totally backwards. I kinda thought I was living in some sort of parallel universe-type thing or something...but actually, things weren't that different..."

_'...That is, if you don't count the parts where Miko's totally over Mr. Rarebit, Dana is actually nice to me and where I have a crush on Cleve. Ew...'_

"But, anyway," she continued. "It was like, pretty soon, I started to realize that, well, everyone else around me wasn't the problem, but that I was. And I was like, so selfish the entire time in my dream, and it was almost as if, I was aware of it, but I couldn't really do anything about it, like, it didn't bother me or something..."

Rockett looked up at Wolf, Arrow and Ruben. "I know," she said apologetically. "I guess it sounds pretty weird."

"Doesn't matter," Ruben said warmly. "As long as you're alright."

"I'm fine," Rockett replied. "I'm just glad to be back home is all."

"Whatever you say, Dorothy," Ruben said with a wink.

Rockett smiled as she looked from Ruben to Wolf to Arrow, and then back at Ruben again.

"Guys?" she said. "Not to get too goofy or whatever, but...I'm really thankful for you guys."

The gang smiled.

"Hey, you too, Rockett," Arrow said with a grin.

"Ditto," Wolf replied.

"Same for me,_ chica_," said Ruben.

"So, you're feeling better?" Arrow asked Rockett.

"Much better," Rockett nodded.

"Alright! Then if you're up for it, let's get back to boarding business! I'm sure that even after your fall, Rockett, you're still better than Ruben and Wolf," Arrow teased.

"Hey, we'll just see about that, won't we?" Wolf laughed.

Ruben smiled. "Let's go," he said to Rockett.

As the group gathered their boards and prepared for their next big race, Rockett stopped Ruben and hugged him.

"Hey," she said softly. "Thanks for always being there."

"You bet," Ruben replied. "So hey, before we get back out there, I wanted to give you this..." As he spoke, Ruben turned and grabbed a paper bag out of his backpack. "It's wrapped and everything, but I had to keep it in the bag to keep from breaking."

"Wow, Ruben! What's this?" Rockett asked excitedly.

"Open it and find out."

Rockett took the paper bag in hand, which, she had to admit, looked awfully familiar.

"Deja vu," she blurted.

"What?" asked a confused Ruben.

"I mean," Rockett said. "I think I've seen this before."

Ruben laughed. "You been sneakin' around in my locker or somethin'?" he teased.

Rockett laughed, too. "Something like that."

"Hey, you lovebirds! Quit your yappin' and get over here and join the action!" Wolf hollered from across the park.

"Alright," Ruben replied as he hopped on his skateboard. "But this time, Wolfman, you're goin' _down_, _hermano_!"

Rockett and Ruben caught up with their friends. It felt great for everything to be back to normal. Still, Rockett wondered if it was a good idea for her to try skateboarding again...especially after what had happened earlier.

"Uh, guys?" she said. "Maybe we can do some boarding later. Anybody wanna go get ice cream or something?"

"I'm there!" Ruben replied.

"Of course Ruben's the first to want to give up on skateboarding," Arrow giggled.

Wolf burst out laughing. "_Hahahahaha_! Good one, Ms. Arrow!" he said, holding up his hand for a high-five. Arrow blushed and slapped his palm.

"But seriously," Wolf said. "If you guys want ice cream, we should go back to my house. I'll make it myself. I guarantee it'll be the best ice cream you've ever had!"

"Then, I'm definitely in!" said Ruben.

"Me too," Arrow agreed.

The foursome walked to the bus stop to hitch a ride to Wolf's. "So Rosales," Wolf replied. "Think you'll get any better on your skateboarding skills over the summer?"

"Nah," Ruben replied. "I've got better things to work on...like prank wars at Camp Luna!"

"I'm won't be such an easy target you know," Wolf said. "I'll be up all night howlin' at the moon! It's the girls you're not gonna have to worry much about," he winked.

Rockett and Arrow exchanged glances. "_Dream on_!"


End file.
